While the government's new Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) rules affecting paid, non-family farm workers in Alberta represent a significant win for farm worker safety, a number of troubling exceptions will continue to heighten the risk of farm worker injury and death.

Labour relations professor Bob Barnetson explains why new rules regulating youth employment introduced as part of the Alberta government's sweeping update to employment standards could make a bad situation even worse for young workers.

Study finds roughly one in five workers hurt at work

As workers across the province prepare to mark the April 28 Day of Mourning for workers killed, injured, and disabled on the job, a new report from the University of Alberta’s Parkland Institute suggests that official statistics are radically underestimating the scale of workplace injury in the province.

How Alberta Can Improve Workplace Safety

Based on a survey of 2,000 Alberta workers, this report looks at the failure of the occupational health and safety system to keep workers in the province safe, and makes recommendations to reduce the number of occupational fatalities, injuries, and illnesses.

The Alberta government is reviewing its Occupational Health and Safety Act for the first time since it was enacted in 1976. Based on the results of a recent worker survey, here are suggestions for changes that can be made to increase worker and workplace safety.

A 2015 report prepared for the former Progressive Conservative government and released after a freedom of information request reveals the extent of farm worker injuries and a lack of adequate insurance coverage for paid employees on farms.

A new Parkland Institute report released today ahead of the April 28th Day of Mourning for workers killed and injured on the job finds that Albertans are getting an inaccurate picture of workplace injuries and fatalities, and both the provincial government and Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) have important roles to play in providing more accurate information to the public.

Newspaper Coverage of Workplace Injury and Death in Alberta

Newspapers are one of the main public sources of information about workplace injuries and fatalities, but the analysis in this report suggests Alberta newspaper articles are creating an inaccurate picture of workplace incidents.

How Alberta Has Failed Teen Workers

Most Albertans will hold a job at some point during their teen years. Yet teens employed in Alberta face widespread illegality and injury on the job, and Alberta does not effectively enforce the employment laws that are supposed to protect teen workers, including the Employment Standards Code and the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Parkland Institute is an Alberta-wide, non-partisan research centre situated within the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta. Parkland Institute studies economic, social, cultural, and political issues facing Albertans and Canadians, using the perspective of political economy. more »